


tell her that i miss our little talks

by shadowdance



Category: Fire Emblem Echoes: Mou Hitori no Eiyuu Ou | Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia
Genre: F/F, Gen, Minor Spoilers, Pre-Game(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-09
Updated: 2017-10-09
Packaged: 2019-01-15 09:16:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12318096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shadowdance/pseuds/shadowdance
Summary: ("Did you hear about the new girl?")Faye gets to know the new girl with the tattered smile.





	tell her that i miss our little talks

**Author's Note:**

> written at 1 am. i really have no idea where i was going with this, so you can read it however you like. idk why it's tagged as gen  
> title comes from 'little talks' by of monsters and men.

“Did you hear about the new girl?”

Gray’s got his head tilted to the side, a cocky smile on his face. That smile means he knows something the others didn’t, that he’s feeling cocky because he has _information_ they don’t. He scrambles next to Tobin on the fence and raises an eyebrow, staring pointedly at Faye. It’s like he wants to see her reaction, which is _stupid_ , but Faye feels her stomach roll and roll.

“No,” she answers simply, turning away from him. She starts picking at the grass blades, twisting them in her hands.

Gray’s smile turns sharper. “Ha! Lucky for you, _I_ heard about her. Although,” he adds thoughtfully, “I don’t know much. Ma only said that she’s Mycen’s ward now.”

Faye accidentally shreds the grass to tiny pieces. She blinks, and drops the pieces. “You mean she and Alm are living _together_?”

“Sounds like it,” Gray says, totally nonplussed. Faye crouches down, her back to him, picking and twisting more grass blades. She wonders if Alm will like this new girl more than her. She wonders what’s going to happen to their little group, if this  _new girl_ is going to join in.

“I’m sure she’s perfectly nice,” Tobin says reasonably. “And it’ll be nice to meet someone new here.”

Gray snorts and shoves Tobin, hard enough that he almost loses his grip on the fence. Faye twitches her lips in a smile, although there’s something stirring in her chest and she’s not sure if she likes it.

"It'll be nice to have another girl here," she says quietly, and she tries her hardest to believe it. She tries not to think about how this will affect Alm, how it will affect their group as a whole. She tries not to think about if Alm will pay more attention to the new girl than her. It doesn’t quite work, so she shoves those thoughts down, tucks them somewhere in the back of her mind.

 

+

 

They meet the new girl in Mycen’s yard. Alm drags her outside, holding her _hand_ , and Faye feels jealousy rising quickly in her gut. She tries to ignore it and instead shoves Gray out of the way, thrusting herself forward. “Hi,” she says. “I’m Faye. And you are?”

The new girl— _Celica_ —smiles at all of them. Alm is gazing at her like she’s the prettiest thing in the room, so Faye tries to focus on the worn edges of Celica’s smile instead. She looks tired, like she’s seen things Faye hasn’t. Faye considers asking where she came from, but then Mycen comes out carrying a burlap sack over his shoulder, so she doesn’t have time.

Mycen surveys them all, and his eyes twinkle. “I suppose you’ll be wanting lessons, then?” he asks, and dumps out the sack’s contents; practice swords come toppling out. Alm grabs two, tosses one to Celica, and then partners off with her; Faye pretends not to notice this and tugs Tobin on his sleeve instead. He shoots her an odd look, but shuffles behind her anyways. Gray makes a face at Faye and she sticks her tongue at him.

Mycen usually teaches them all at the same time, but it’s clear that he’s mostly focusing on Celica and Alm today. _Why_ , Faye doesn’t know, but she bats Tobin’s sword away until Tobin is grinding his teeth in frustration. She’s not even paying attention to him, because she’s more focused on watching how Celica holds her sword, the way she trips and slams into the dirt. Mycen shakes his head and sighs, walking brusquely over and pulling Celica to her feet.

“Your feet are too far apart,” he says lowly, and maybe it’s supposed to be quiet but Faye still catches every word. “And you’re holding the sword wrong. I thought I showed you the other day?”

Celica flushes as red as her hair, and Faye feels a tiny twinge of pity. She runs through comforting words in her head, things to say after practice, but then Celica draws herself up. She takes a deep breath, and when Alm lunges forward she blocks, then slams back with so much force that Alm skids backwards.

Faye doesn’t realize how closely she’s watching until she feels her own sword leave her hands and clatter on the ground. “Got you,” Tobin says teasingly. “Are you paying attention?”

“Yes,” Faye says quickly. She picks up her sword, and her gaze slides back to Celica. The other girl is smiling, and then glances around the yard. She catches Faye’s gaze for a split second, and her mouth lifts up in a smile. She waves, and Faye's eyes widen.

She ducks her head down, but the tips of her mouth are forming a smile.

 

+

 

When Faye walks up to Mycen’s house, Alm isn’t there. She wanders around the whole property before stumbling upon Celica, who stares at her with wide eyes and a serious expression. She’s sitting in the yard, a big tome sprawled in her lap. “Hello,” she says, her eyes unblinking.

“Oh. Um. Hi.” Faye crosses her arms, feeling shyness wash over her. “Do you know where Alm is?”

Celica nods. “He went off with Gray in the woods. He invited me to go, but I didn't really want to come.”

“Why?”

Celica shrugs. “Kliff gave me this,” she says, lifting it up and showing Faye the cover. “Well, not really. He let Alm borrow it, but Alm let me look at it. It’s about magic.”

Faye plops down next to Celica, the dry grass tickling her shins. “You like magic?”

“I’m interested in it,” Celica says. “And you’ve seen Kliff do magic, right?"

Of course she has. Kliff used to practice magic at Faye’s before her grandmother got tired of Kliff lighting their objects on fire and promptly told them to go play somewhere else. “He burnt the socks Granny was knitting,” Faye tells Celica, drawing her eyebrows close together. “Hard to control, I guess.”

Celica giggles, the sound soft and light. “I guess so.” Then her expression molds back into seriousness. “I was trying it out, though, want to see?”

Faye scoots closer until their knees are brushing. Celica pulls the tome closer to her, murmuring the words she sees on the pages, stumbling over the ones she can’t pronounce. All she creates is a little puff of smoke, which blows in Faye’s face. She coughs.

“Oh well,” Celica sighs, glancing at the tome. “Could have been better.”

“It could’ve been worse,” Faye says, making a face. The smoke still stings her nostrils. “My hair could’ve caught on fire.”

Celica stares at her, and then giggles tentatively. “Well, I’m glad I didn’t,” she says, and jumps to her feet. “C’mon—let’s go put this book back where it belongs.”

 

+

 

“Are these your flowers?”

When Faye looks up, Celica is standing in her yard, none of the others in sight. She’s pointing at Faye’s windowsill, where rows of pansies are delicately arranged. They just bloomed recently and they look absolutely gorgeous. Sometimes Gray teases Faye that he’ll pull the flowers out, but he’s not that mean and he knows how much effort Faye puts into planting them. Alm just says they look gorgeous, and Faye glows at the compliment. Nobody else has said anything.

“Yes,” Faye answers quietly, watching Celica scamper up to the plants with big eyes. “Mama helped me grow them.”

Celica glances at her. “Your mother is a gardener?”

“She likes to plant things in her spare time,” Faye explains. Her fingers brush against the flower petals absentmindedly. “Granny likes to grow flowers, too.”

Celica looks back at the flowers, blooming cheerily up at them. “They’re pretty. They’re much prettier than the wildflowers I use to make flower crowns.”

Pink splotches Faye’s cheeks, the same color as her flowers, and she doesn’t really know why. “I don’t do much,” she insists. “It’s just the plant.”

Celica shrugs. “It’s pretty,” is all she says. Faye digs her fingernails into her palms.

“I can ask Mama if you want to help us plant,” she offers, and Celica blinks rapidly. “I mean—it’s growing season, I think.”

Celica cocks her head to the side, her gaze sharp, and Faye swallows, feeling regret creep up her spine. But then Celica smiles at her—shy and peeking at the edges, but still there.

“That sounds fun,” she says earnestly. A knot untangles in Faye’s chest.

  

+

 

Celica’s hair keeps falling in her face. She wears a headband, but somehow her bangs sneak past and fall over her eyes. She spends a good portion of time blowing it out of her face before Faye grabs her arm and drags her behind Mycen’s house.

“Want me to braid your hair?” she asks rather boldly, and Celica blinks at her before nodding. Faye takes off her headband, pulls Celica’s hair back. Her braids aren’t as neat as Gray’s are, but they’re getting there.

“I like your braids a lot,” Celica says. She sits still as Faye runs her fingers through her long locks. “They’re cute.”

Faye starts on the first braid. “Thanks. Gray taught me.”

“Gray knows how to braid hair?”

“He has two sisters. They made him play with them a lot," Faye explains rather distractingly. “He used to like playing with my hair. His sisters taught me more, though.”

“That’s lovely,” Celica says, so earnestly that Faye believes her. “I wish I had an older sister. Well, actually-” but then she suddenly clamps her mouth shut, going still. Faye wonders if she almost let something slip that she wasn’t supposed to. The truth is, Faye still doesn’t know where Celica came from, or why she moved abruptly to Ram, or how she ended up with sir Mycen. Celica is still a mystery, and it seems like only Mycen knows everything.

But that’s okay. Faye realizes she doesn’t really care anymore. Celica is her friend, and there are some things she might want to hold close to her. That’s fine, Faye understands.

“It’s almost done,” Faye says quietly. Her fingers work quickly, and the moment she finishes, Celica drags her inside the house to look in the mirror. Her braids are sloppier than Faye’s, and there’s a strand of hair sticking out stubbornly, but Celica clasps her hands together.

“I love it,” she says. “Thank you!”

Faye smiles softly and just stares at their reflections, noticing how Celica’s shoulder bumps against hers, their expressions alike in the mirror.

 

+

 

Alm and Celica spend most of their time together. Faye tries not to mope in front of the other boys, just glances forlornly at the field. She misses Alm’s energy and his sense of humor, the way he makes her heart flutter, but she also misses Celica and her quietness, that smile that’s been patching up recently, no longer stretched thin. But Gray and Tobin and Kliff are fun too, so she tries not to complain.

While Alm and Celica are off by themselves, Tobin hears of a knight and then they almost all get killed. Faye is shaking, pale and scared, and Mycen isn’t there to offer words of comfort. All he says is that Celica has to leave, and Faye’s heart drops to her boots.

Celica doesn’t say goodbye to Alm with the others; Faye assumes they probably had their own private goodbye. But Celica just says goodbye to the rest of them in the square. She squeezes Kliff’s arm, hugs Gray and Tobin; she wraps her arm around Faye’s neck and Faye hugs her as tightly as she can.

“I’ll miss all of you,” Celica says. Her smile is tired.

 

+

 

Alm spends most of his time in his room. Faye hovers in his bedroom, trying to find sympathy on her tongue, but she can’t quite manage it. Instead, she watches Alm stare at the shadows on his wall and feels her own sadness growing, matching Alm’s mood. Mycen isn’t saying anything and Faye wants to ask him why Celica had to leave, why she had to go away and leave them, leave Alm miserable.

But she doesn’t. Instead, she grows older. She grows out of her old clothes and helps her grandmother sew up a new dress. Her hair grows longer until it falls past her shoulders, but she still ties it back in its normal braids. She grows taller, but not taller than Kliff, and he teases her about it until the war arrives.

Lukas comes looking for Mycen and leaves with Alm, Gray, and Tobin. Kliff doesn’t ask to go along and neither does Faye, yet she wonders what Alm is thinking as he leaves. She wonders if he thinks he’s going to find Celica in the stirrings of a war.

But she finds Celica before Alm does. Celica enters Ram with mages and a mercenary behind her, and Faye jumps to her feet. Celica looks different now, yes, but Faye would recognize that voice anywhere.

“Celica!” she rushes towards the gate, almost tripping over herself, and skids to a halt in front of her. “Oh my gosh, you’re back!”

Celica looks surprised for a split second, blinking rapidly, but then recognition dawns on her face. “It’s nice to see you too, Faye,” she says warmly, and Faye smiles. She reaches out to grasp Celica’s hands.

“I missed you,” she says honestly, and Celica blinks. A beat later, though, she smiles at her. Her smile is more confident now, no longer fraying at the edges. It is, to say, quite radiant.

“I missed you too,” she says softly, and squeezes Faye’s hands.


End file.
